Originally scheduled to review progress towards implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration—a string of development goals that had been agreed upon in September 2000, the Summit had great expectations revolving around it.

Nevertheless, the war in Iraq and the consequent diversity it led to among member states gave rise to an elemental appraisal of the UN’s role as far as peacekeeping was concerned. Even though there were initial aims to bring around the member states towards a ‘new security consensus’, both geopolitical veracities and the domestic political imperatives among key member states (most remarkably the US), were the primary impediments as far as meeting objectives of the Summit were concerned.

Additionally, Mark Malloch Brown, chef de cabinet to Annan, spoke of ‘a very well-prepared gamble’ maintaining that the proposals on offer were part of ‘a package’ and that member states should ‘not go for à la carte shopping on it.’

It would not be incorrect to state that the Summit was regarded as too grand as far as its realisation was concerned. This became visible when the issue of the Security Council enlargement—long backed by Kofi Annan got nowhere. The outcome simply stated that ‘early reform [of the Council remains] an essential element of the overall effort to reform the UN.’ Further, the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change (HLP) was established in 2003 and charged with reviewing the UN’s role in peace and security.

The panel carried out a pragmatic classi f icat ion of ‘ threats and challenges’ facing member states and the UN’s role in meeting the same. The report also brought out a case for approaching many threats—especially those emanating from the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the rise of masscasualty terrorism and trans-national organised crime—as cutting across national boundaries.

Therefore, the vulnerability of these threats did not really remain confined to ‘unilaterally imposed solutions’ by individual member states. This fact was elaborated further in January 2008, when UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon outlined wide-ranging fronts including areas such as environment, public health and human security faced by the world that respect no boundaries. Pertinently, the UN has been known for its efforts directed at peacekeeping across the globe since its establishment on October 24, 1945.

In particular, ever since UN peacekeeping was established in May 1948, it has sought to assist countries worn out by conflict and contributed towards creating conditions for lasting peace.

In total, there have been 63 UN peacekeeping operations with more than 100,000 military and civilian personnel serving in 20 UN peace operations worldwide. UN peacekeeping has gradually evolved and adapted to the changing political landscapes across the globe.

Besides undertaking military functions, UN peacekeepers today also constitute as administrators, economists, police officers, legal experts, de-miners, electoral observers, human rights monitors and specialists in civil affairs, gender, governance, humanitarian workers and experts in communications and public information.

India’s Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

India’ s cont r ibut ion to UN peacekeeping missions could be termed as laudable given that Indian troops have participated in some of the most complex UN peacekeeping operations in four continents, with nearly 100 Indian soldiers and officers having sacrificed their lives while serving during the operations.

The most noteworthy assistance has come in the form of efforts to usher in peace and stability in Africa and Asia, few of which have been discussed subsequently. Presently, India is ranked as the third largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions and has additionally offered one brigade of troops to the UN Standby Arrangements. Significantly, over 55,000 Indian Military and Police personnel have served under the UN flag in 35 UN peacekeeping operations spanning all continents.

While contributing to peacekeeping in the Middle East, India provided an infantry battalion that accounted for the bulk of the UN force in the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) created in 1956 following cessation of hostilities between Egypt and Israel. In the subsequent 11 years, from 1956 to 1967, more than 12,000 Indian troops participated in the UNEF. Moreover, consistent to the Geneva Accord, an International Control Commission (ICC) for Indo- China was set up in 1954, of which India was the Chair.

This Commission primarily implemented the ceasefire agreement between Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and France with the Indian representative, career diplomat S K Bhutani, playing a key role.

The UN operation in the Congo, ONUC, could be interpreted as distinctive in many ways when secessionist forces broke out in Congo.

Being the first time that the UN undertook an operation in an intra- State, rather than an inter-State conflict, the operation involved heavy casualties. The operation successfully upheld the national unity and territorial integrity of Congo, during which the Indian contingent lost 39 men in action.

In addition, the Indian Army provided a Force Commander and observers for the Observer Mission in Yemen in 1963-64 (UNYOM) and the UN operation in Cyprus (UNFICYP). During the years of the Iran-Iraq war, the UN set up a Military Observer Group to monitor the situation on the Iran-Iraq border wherein India provided military observers.

Furthermore, following end of the Gulf War, the UN established the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM) where Indian observers continued participation.

It would be relevant to mention here that the UN operation in Namibia is considered as a noteworthy success of the United Nations. Indian military observers in Namibia were credited for the effective withdrawal of foreign troops, conducting elections and subsequently, handing over authority to the government.

Of late, in what could be described as one of the biggest UN peacekeeping operations in Cambodia, India provided an infantry battalion, military observers and a field ambulance unit. Crucially, India has also regularly sent military observers to various UN operations including the ONUCA (Central America) in 1990-92, ONUSAL (El Salvador) in 1991 and UNOMIL (Liberia) in 1994.

The challenging and complex UN Operation in Somalia, UNOSOM II (1993-95) witnessed Indian naval ships and personnel taking part in patrol duties off the Somali coast, humanitarian assistance onshore and in the transportation of men and material for the UN. The Indian contingent also provided crucial assistance by means of constructing schools and mosques, running mobile dispensaries and relief camps in order to provide medical and humanitarian relief for the Somalis.

While demonstrating its capability to provide an integrated force, comprising land and naval forces matched by air support, the remaining units of the Indian contingent were repatriated from Somalia on board Indian naval ships from Kismayo port.

In the UN assistance mission in Rwanda, India provided a contingent comprising one infantry battalion and support elements to help ensure security for the refugees and further facilitate conditions to hold free and fair elections—an objective that was successfully accomplished leading to the repatriation of the Indian contingent in April 1996. After the upgradation of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone in November-December 1999, India provided two infantry battalion groups, a quick reaction company, a field engineering company, a level III medical facility, a Special Forces company, an artillery battery, transport and air force attack helicopters and the backbone of the force headquarters in Freetown.

Moreover, the Chief Military Observer of the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) was an Indian army officer. Additionally, India also provided an infantry battalion to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

India currently participates in the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) with an infantry battalion, a Force Reserve Company and a Field Engineer Construction Company. Recent peacekeeping operations have tended to be multi-dimensional and diverse, including police monitors and election observers. India’s contribution for the same has come in form of police personnel as well as election observers to the UN peacekeeping operations in Cambodia, Mozambique and Angola.

Additionally, India provided 123 police personnel to the UN mission in Haiti (Phase II). Indian contributions vis-à-vis police monitors for the UN International Police Task Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL), Western Sahara (MINURSO) and Kosovo (UNMIK) have been noteworthy.

While hosting a UN Regional Training Workshop for Peacekeeping Operations in New Delhi during January 1996, as many as 17 countries of the Asia-Pacific region participated with Kofi Annan, the then Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping, complimenting India for its contributions.

It should be noted that India has considerable experience in demining activities and has made considerable aid to the de-mining activities in various missions in Rwanda, Mozambique, Somalia, Angola and Cambodia. Indian Army has also undertaken mine clearance projects in support of repatriation and rehabilitation programmes of the UNHCR.

In efforts undertaken towards providing opportunities for training to military officers from different countries, India at present has army training teams in as many as six countries including Seychelles, Laos, Mauritius, Botswana, Zambia and Bhutan.

Reform in the UN: It is About Time…

As the nature and scope of activity of the UN Security Council increases, it also gets increasingly dependent upon the political support of the international community. This in turn augments the need for an adequate presence of developing nations in the UNSC.

Reform of the UNSC encompasses a variety of proposals, including procedural reforms, such as eliminating the veto held by the five permanent members, and expansion of the Council. As a matter of fact, ‘Security Council reform’ usually refers to plans to restructure or expand its membership.

An existent reality that has often been a subject of debate is that after a span of more than six decades, the United Nations ought to revamp both its organizational structure and functioning, particularly in the UN Security Council.

According to the India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, “any expansion of permanent members’ category must be based on agreed criteria, rather than be a pre-determined selection… There must be an inclusive approach based on transparent consultations.” India supports expansion of both permanent and non-permanent members’ category since the latter is the only avenue for the vast majority of Member States to serve on the Security Council.

Taking into account facets such as being the world’s second largest populace; the largest liberal practicing democracy; the twelfth largest economy sorted by its gross domestic product (GDP), the market value of all final goods and services in a given year; the fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP); India maintains the world’s third largest armed forces; and is also the third largest contributor of troops to United Nations Peacekeeping mission.

All these points collate towards making a strong case for India to emerge as a strong contender for clinching a permanent seat in the UNSC.

It was during the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s time that India started looking for its rightful place in the UNSC.

India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UNSC has received unequivocal backing by permanent members including France, Russia and the United Kingdom. The Chinese government has recently advocated India’s candidacy. This visibly was a significant shift of stance by Beijing since it was initially opposed to the idea owing to the existing geopolitical equations.

In what could be interpreted as a correlation of stronger economic ties, China’s changed its position from negative to neutral to finally being positive. In addition, several nations comprising the African Union, Chile and Australia have explicitly supported India’s candidacy. However, India still seeks the tremendously key and decisive support of the US over the issue.

Following the end of the Cold War, the realm of international security has expanded outside the traditional framework of superpower rivalry and also ushered in transformed emphasis on democratic governance around the world. Even if the UN continues to be recognised for its role as the foremost international institution promoting international peace and security, its concert in this respect has often generated intense debate— most prominently, the composition and voting pattern of the Security Council. The present constitution of the UNSC does not mirror the post- Cold War international order.

Today, there is a need for a transformed, invigorated and far more responsive United Nations more than ever before. However, domestic political atmospheres and, more specifically, vital bilateral ties that constitute key strategic equations in different parts of the globe, have emerged as prime impediments as far as evolving consensus vis-à-vis ground breaking reforms on the nature and scope of reorganisation in the UN are concerned.